Composer Of The Week

Donald Macleod talks to Peter and Emilie Bernstein about their father, award winning Hollywood film composer Elmer Bernstein, who wrote for films during the 1980s and 1990s. Born in 1922, Elmer Bernstein created the music for more than 150 films. His big break was one of Hollywood's biggest pictures, Cecil B DeMille's swan song, the 1955 biblical epic, "The Ten Commandments". At the same time as working on that enormous canvas for DeMille, Bernstein was composing the first in a series of ground-breaking jazz infused scores, "The Man with the Golden Arm". He went on to write the music for the Hollywood adaptation of Harper Lee's classic novel "To Kill a Mockingbird", Westerns which include The Magnificent Seven, surely one of the best known title themes in the history of cinema, before he became the go to composer for John Wayne. His scores for action adventures include "The Great Escape" and a moving depiction of the inner life of a prisoner in "Birdman of Alcatraz". Nominated on numerous occasions, he won a

Donald Macleod explores Debussy's life as he approaches his thirties.Donald Macleod explores Debussy's life as he approaches his thirties, a challenging period both personally and musically. One of the twentieth century's most original minds, the French composer Claude Debussy has had a profound influence on the course of music. Born in 1862, his precocious talent gained him admittance to the prestigious Paris Conservatoire as a ten year old, one of the youngest pupils in the piano class. There were soon indications of his independence of mind. His student years are littered with reports which, while recognising his gifts also found him to be careless and scatterbrained. Debussy found it difficult to focus on his lessons because he felt frustrated with the rules of composition he was told to follow. He wanted to express himself differently, and if he broke the rules to achieve that, well, in his view, so be it.This week Donald Macleod begins his stories at the point in Debussy's life where, the young man has

Donald Macleod explores Henriëtte Bosmans' rise to fame as both a pianist and a composer.Henriëtte Bosmans seemed destined for a life in music from the moment of her birth, in 1895. Her father was the principal solo cellist in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra and her mother a piano teacher at the Amsterdam Conservatory. Bosmans developed a flourishing career and won international success with her Concert Piece for Violin and Orchestra. As a concert pianist she performed alongside conductors such as Ernest Ansermet and George Szell.Bosmans’s mother was a Jew and, although Bosmans didn’t consider herself Jewish, her ancestry played a significant role in the events of her life. She lived through the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, when tens of thousands of Amsterdam Jews were deported to concentration camps, including her fellow citizen, Anne Frank. This week, Donald Macleod is joined by Bosmans expert Dr Helen Metzelaar and also Dr Laurien Vastenhout from Amsterdam’s Institute for War, Holocaust and Ge

Donald Macleod explores the richly evocative musical landscape of Ottorino RespighiThis week, we’re invited to explore the richly evocative musical landscape of Ottorino Respighi. The colourful inventiveness of his most popular music was often inspired by images, places or stories, like his trio of ‘Tone Poems’: Pines of Rome, Fountains of Rome, and Roman Festivals. These works and others were frequently championed by celebrated conductor, Arturo Toscanini, and Respighi rose to become one of the leading Italian composers of the twentieth century. He remains hugely popular with orchestras and audiences today. Respighi’s trademark orchestral brilliance betrays the influence of his Russian mentor, Rimsky Korsakov. He was also fascinated by early music and sometimes incorporated antique styles into his works. In this series, Donald Macleod explores Respighi’s life and music from different perspectives, including his associations with Bologna, Rome and the USA, the important presence of his wife, Elsa, and also hi

Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Edward Gregson and Alan BushThis week, Donald Macleod is in conversation with British composer, Edward Gregson, who offers a fascinating window into his own story and also the life and work of his mentor, Alan Bush. We’ll see how both composers have made significant contributions to Britain’s musical story, and we explore the events that led to the very different trajectories of their careers.Edward Gregson knew that classical music would be his life after encountering Brahms’s music as a teenager. He studied composition with Alan Bush, and his natural instinct for melody and brilliant orchestral colour have made him a popular choice with audiences and performers across the world. He also prides himself in rising to a challenge, including taking on the leadership of one of Britain’s major musical conservatoires.In the early part of the twentieth century, Alan Bush seemed destined to become of the regular stalwarts of Britain’s music scene, alongside his contemporar

Donald Macleod explores Elgar's own belief that he was an outsider from British societyElgar is the composer we turn to in times of national celebration, of pride (Pomp and Circumstance Marches) and of public grief (Nimrod). He mingled with royalty and was made a knight of the realm, seemingly a pillar of the Edwardian and early 20th Century British establishment. And yet, for most of his life he felt himself to be a misfit. This week, Donald Macleod explores some of the reasons for that sense of unbelonging.Music Featured:Chanson du matin My love dwelt in a northern land Serenade for Strings (I. Allegro piacevole) Sea Pictures (I. Sea Slumber Song; II. In Haven (Capri); III. Sabbath Morning at Sea) Variations on an Original Theme “Enigma” (Var.7 (Troyte) – 14 (Finale - EDU)) Bavarian Dance No.1 From the Bavarian Highlands (V. On the Alm) The Dream of Gerontius, Part 2: “I see not those false spirits” … “Praise to the holiest” Pomp and Circumstance March No.1 in D The Apostles, Part 2, Scene 4: The Betrayal,

Donald Macleod lifts the veil on neglected yet prolific composer, Marianna MartinesMarianna Martines lived and worked in Vienna alongside some of classical music’s greatest names. She was tutored by Haydn, played piano duets with Mozart, corresponded with Padre Martini and Farinelli, and was frequently invited to perform for the Imperial Court. For nearly forty years, she was mentored by Metastasio, Europe’s most celebrated opera librettist. Martines became a significant personality in Viennese cultural circles, with her works regularly performed in the city and commissions and honours coming her way from across Europe. This week, Donald Macleod is joined by Dr Jeremy Llewellyn to lift the veil on this long neglected yet prolific and highly celebrated composer and discover the unique perspective her story provides on cultural life in Vienna during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.Music Featured: Dixit Dominus (excerpt) Keyboard Concerto in E Joseph Haydn: Symphony No 1 in D Sonata in E for harpsichord S

Donald Macleod reflects on Franz Liszt's Hungarian story - he spent little time there and couldn't speak the language but just how important to his music was the land of his birth?Music Featured:Hungarian Rhapsody No 8 in F sharp minor Die Drei Zigeuner Symphonic Poem: From the Cradle to the Grave Fantasy on Motifs from Beethoven's 'Ruinen von Athen' Variation on a Theme of Diabelli Hungarian Rhapsody No 10 in E - 'Preludio' Hungarian Rhapsody No 5 in E minor 'Heroide-elegiaque' Six Grandes Etudes de Paganini - No 6 "La Campanella" Fantasia on Hungarian Folk Themes Hungarian Rhapsody No 15 'Rakoczy March' Arbeiterchor Symphonic Poem - 'Hungaria' Liebestraum No 1 'Hohe Lieb' 'Magyarok Istene' (version for organ) 2 Légendes - No 2 'St Francois de Paule marchant sur les flots' Hungarian Coronation Mass - II. 'Gloria' Hungarian Rhapsody No 9 in flat 'Pesther Carnival - II. Finale presto Piano Concerto No 2 in A Hungarian Rhapsody No 6 in D flat Hungarian Rhapsody No 4 in d minor (orchestal arrangement) Die Legend

Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Jean-Baptiste LullyJean-Baptiste Lully was the most influential French composer of the 17th Century, a key figure in the court of Louis XIV. This week, Donald Macleod explores how Lully rose from humble origins in Italy to become the most powerful musician in France, a story of lies, ambition and intrigue.Music Featured: Phaëton, LWV 61, Overture Le Carnaval, LWV 52, Overture Le Carnaval, LWV 52 (Air “Son dottor per occasion”) Dies Irae, LWV 64/1 Dances - Les noces de village, LWV 19 (excerpts) Psyché, LWV 56 (Finale) Atys, LWV 53, Overture Anon - Les Nuits Ballet: Ouverture Ballet royal de Flore, LWV 40 (excerpt) Ballet royal des amours déguisés, LWV 21 (Air “Ah! Rinaldo, e dove sei?”) L’amour malade, LWV 8 Jubilate Deo - Motet de la paix, LWV 77/16 Alcidiane, LWV 9, Ouverture Armide, LWV 71 (End of Act II) Ballet Naissance de Venus, LWV 27 (excerpt) Le Triomphe de l’amour, LWV 59 (excerpts) Miserere, LWV 25 Les Plaisirs de l'île enchantée, LWV 22 (Divertisment No

Donald Macleod chats to composer Errollyn Wallen about her life and workBelize-born British composer Errollyn Wallen has been called a “renaissance woman of contemporary music”. She’s a remarkably versatile and prolific composer, pianist and songwriter and one of our most in-demand musical voices today. She was the first black woman to have a piece performed at the Proms in 1998 and her music opened the 2012 Paralympic games. She's even been performed in space, aboard NASA’s STS115 mission. Wallen writes in a kaleidoscopic range of styles; her music constantly crosses and re-crosses musical boundaries and it brims over with a sense of adventure and delight. This week, Donald Macleod gets to know Errollyn as she dials into his studio from her Scottish lighthouse where she retreats to concentrate on her work.Music Featured:I Wouldn’t Normally Say It’s a Quarter to Nine Percussion Concerto (2nd movement – excerpt) Louis’ Loops Photography NNENNA My Granny Sarah Woogie Boogie Dervish Concerto Grosso Horseplay (1s

Donald Macleod delves into the operas of Giacomo PucciniGiacomo Puccini was man of the theatre to his fingertips. Born in Lucca in 1858, into a distinguished family of church musicians, Puccini was never destined to follow in his forebears’ footsteps. His fate was sealed when as a teenager he walked thirty miles to hear Verdi’s Aida. He knew immediately that theatre was his calling and from that point on he wrote almost exclusively for the stage.A perfectionist and an often unreasonable taskmaster, Puccini agonised over each of his operas. Beginning with Manon Lescaut, the opera that launched Puccini internationally, this week Donald Macleod follows the off and the on-stage dramas of La Boheme, Tosca, Madam Butterfly, La fanciulla del West, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, Il tabarro and the opera he left incomplete at his death in 1924, his final masterpiece, Turandot. The stories on stage are interleaved with events in his personal life, from an early scandal over his affair with a married woman and some ver

Donald Macleod explores Mozart’s prolific final years.Five years before Mozart’s premature death aged 35, the composer felt at the top of his game. He was performing regularly in Vienna and his music was beloved throughout the city. However, the Austro-Turkish War between the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire would soon have a negative impact on Mozart’s prospects, along with changing musical taste in the Austrian capital. The nobility had more important things to do than hold concerts and commission new music. Money was in shorter supply. As a composer for hire, Mozart had to change tack and write chamber music for publication and for performance in middle class homes, rather than concertos for the nobility.Music Featured: Horn Concerto No 4 in E flat major, K 495 (I. Allegro maestoso) Piano Concerto No 24 in C minor, K 491 (I. Allegro) Sonata for Piano 4 Hands in F major, K 497 (I. Adagio - Allegro di molto) Symphony No 38 in D major, K 504 “Prague” (I. Adagio – Allegro) Symphony No 39 in E flat majo

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of Camille Saint-SaënsCamille Saint-Saëns once said “I produce music as an apple tree produces apples.” In his day, that fruit was gobbled up all across Europe where the composer was acclaimed as the greatest of all French musicians. Liszt called him the greatest organist in the world. Yet in France, and in his home city of Paris, he was not always so highly regarded, despite his strong bond with his homeland. This week, as we mark the centenary of his death, Donald Macleod delves into the life and work of Saint-Saëns, charting the changing relationship with France of one of the greatest musicians that the country has ever produced.Music Featured: Samson and Delilah, Op 47 (Bacchanale) Le Soir Piano Quintet in A minor, Op 14 (III. Presto) Le muse et la poete, Op 132 Piano Trio No 2 in E minor, Op 92 (I. Allegro non troppo) Symphony in F major “Urbs Roma” (II. Molto Vivace) Fantaisie in D-flat major, Op 101 Tarantella in A minor, Op 6 The Carnival of the Animals (Aqua

Donald Macleod is joined by the composer Mark-Anthony TurnageMark-Anthony Turnage is a man with a reputation for shaking up the world of British classical music - a composer with a distinctive and rebellious creative voice. His work vividly fuses influences of jazz, soul and contemporary pop with music that remains boldly and defiantly avant-garde. It’s music that packs a punch, yet whose visceral impact accompanies a deep lyricism and emotion. Over four decades, Turnage’s work has tackled social commentary: domestic violence, drug abuse, and the refugee crisis. But he’s also a composer with a subversive streak, with an opera exploring the life of former Playboy model Anna-Nicole Smith, and orchestral pieces inspired by his beloved Arsenal football club and pop superstar Beyoncé.Music Featured: Greek, Act 1: Breakfast Quartet On Opened Ground (1st mvt) Night Dances (3rd mvt, Nocturne) Greek, Act 1: Prologue and Wine Bar Music; Act 2: Journey to the Sphinx… Three Farewells (All Will Be Well) Blood On The Floor

As part of his 80th birthday celebrations in 2010, Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim looked back over his life and work, with Donald Macleod. The result is a fascinating retrospective of half a century of creativity, with the artist himself as tour guide. Along the way, he explodes a few myths about the inner workings of musical theatre.Sondheim starts by talking about his childhood, his parents' divorce, his near-adoption by the Hammerstein family and his apprenticeship with Oscar Hammerstein, the lyricist of Oklahoma! Then there's the rollercoaster ride of his early career: his first, abortive Broadway show; two amazing breaks, when he was commissioned to write the lyrics for first West Side Story, then Gypsy; his unhappy collaboration with Richard Rogers; and his major creative breakthrough with Company, a musical with situations and characters but no conventional plot, and the first appearance of characteristic Sondheim subject-matter - the virtual impossibility of forming good relationships. As one Britis

Donald Macleod explores a crucial decade in Sibelius’s lifeThe 1910s were a crucial decade in Sibelius’s life. He would write some of his greatest works during these ten years, including his fourth and fifth symphonies and the beginnings of his sixth. Sibelius’s meditations on the symphony and its role in his creative life are a recurring theme in the week’s programmes.This period also reflects Sibelius’s life in microcosm, including his battles with alcohol and indebtedness; his need for the stimulus of foreign travel, and the periods of creative inertia, which would decisively return during his later years.We travel around the world with Sibelius, returning to Finland at the outbreak of the first world war, which would have a major impact on his life and work, not least with the Finnish Civil War of 1918 and Finland’s subsequent independence: these were formative events for Sibelius.We also home in on Sibelius’s personal life and relationships during the 1910s, including his money troubles coming to a head,

Donald Macleod and guest, Kevin Le Gendre follow the jazz adventures of Carla BleyOne of the most original voices in jazz, composer, arranger, performer and band-leader Carla Bley has been determinedly pursuing her own musical path for more than sixty years. Her back catalogue of some fifty plus recordings tell the story of a musician who's responded in her own unique style to all the current trends, from free and experimental jazz in the 60s and 70s to 80s soul, blues and R&B. In later decades, she's written for and created big bands recalling the musical landscapes of Count Basie and the Duke and in the last 20 years, she's refined a distilled, intimate style for smaller chamber ensembles, in particular performing in a Trio with her life partner, bassist Steve Swallow and the British saxophonist Andy Sheppard. Little wonder then, her fellow musicians affectionately call Bley 'Countess Bleysie' and 'Bleythoven'. Featuring a selection of recordings suggested by Carla Bley, Donald Macleod and Kevin Le Gend

Donald Macleod explores the life and work of composer, Luigi CherubiniAn octogenarian when he died in 1842, Cherubini's long life places him alongside three giants of the age, Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. When he was born in 1760, Mozart was four years old, and Haydn was in his thirties. Beethoven was born a decade after Cherubini. Standing among these luminaries, all of whom he admired, Cherubini was a composer, conductor, teacher, administrator, theorist and music publisher, who enjoyed a much higher standing in his own lifetime than his present day reputation might suggest. Beethoven and latterly Wagner are just two of a long list of notables who hugely admired his music. These days it's perhaps through his masses that many people come to his music, so it may be a surprise to discover that he followed the fashion of his day, and produced a considerable number of successful operas. This week Donald Macleod follows Cherubini's progress from his Florentine childhood to Paris, where he was to settle and see hi

To mark Sofia Gubaidulina’s 90th birthday, Donald Macleod and Gerard McBurney explore five different aspects of her progressive and distinctive music. Gubaidulina has been living in Germany since 1992 and is still busy composing today. When she was born in 1931 in Tatarstan, the Soviet Union was under Stalinist rule. Up until her emigration, she worked as a composer under the strictly regulated conditions determined by Soviet cultural policies. This week, we get an insight into the life of a composer behind the Iron Curtain, as Gubaidulina developed her own creative path, un-swayed by any hint of ideological pressure.Music Featured:Musical Toys Allegro rustic for flute and piano Offertorium Piano sonata (1st mvt, Allegro) Pantomime for Double Bass and piano Seven words for Cello, Bayan and Strings (Est ist Vollbracht) 5 Etudes for harp, double bass and percussion (Nos 1, 4 & 5) Vivente – non vivente Artyomov: Archipelagos of Sounds in the Ocean of Time (excerpt) Sheptalki Concordanza Johannes Passion (The

Donald Macleod tries to get to the heart of JS Bach’s character, warts and all.Johann Sebastian Bach, who is now almost universally recognised as one of the giants of classical music, was not always so celebrated. In his own lifetime he received some public recognition but this contrasted with his regular complaints of unjust humiliations at the hands of his contemporaries and his employers. Was the composer hard done by or were these problems of his own making? This week, Donald Macleod tries to get to the heart of Bach’s character, warts and all, through five different periods in the composer’s life. We’ll be hearing from some of Bach’s most glorious music, as Donald ponders what the composer’s character might mean for our understanding of the man and his art.Music Featured: St Matthew Passion, BWV 244, “Wir setzen uns mit Tranen nieder” Solo Violin Sonata No 1 in G minor, BWV 1001 (I, Adagio) Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150 Passacaglia and fugue in C minor, BWV 582 Ascension Oratorio, BWV 11, “Ach